Summer Switch
by somethingxsimple
Summary: AU. All Human. When their families decide to do a house swap for the summer, Bella Swan and Edward Cullen find themselves in each other's rooms. Can two perfect strangers realize that they're perfect for one another? HIATUS for now.


Hi everybody! After years of endlessly reading fan fiction, I've decided to give it a go. This is my first story on here, and since I love Twilight so much, I thought I'd start with this! It's loosely based on the book "In Your Room," by Jordanna Fraiberg. (It's a quick read, but a cute book!) I will be changing it up a bit, as this story is rated M. But without further delay, here is the first chapter of Summer Switch!

DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the Twilight characters, who belong to Stephanie Meyer, or the plot, which belongs to Jordanna Fraiberg.

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_From: Edward_

_To: Bella_

_Date: June 15, 2006 12:05 A.M. PDT_

_Subject: In your room_

Dear Bella:

My name is Edward and I'm staying in your house for the summer. More precisely, I'm staying in your room.

Anyway, the reason I'm writing is your dog showed up at the front door about ten minutes ago, and hasn't stopped barking since. He doesn't seem to want to eat or drink anything, so I figured you might be familiar with this behavior and what to do. Or maybe he's just upset that you're gone? If you have any advice or tips on what to do, that'd be great. I hope you're liking our house so far (if you've even arrived yet).

Edward

_From: Bella_

_To: Edward_

_Date: June 15, 2006 9:00 A.M. CDT_

_Subject: Re: In your room_

Dear Edward:

I'm so sorry! I forgot to leave a note about the dog! I hope he didn't keep you up all night with his barking. He's not even mine – he technically belongs to this man on the Quileute reservation in La Push, but he always finds his way over here, seducing suckers like me for attention, so he comes a lot. You can just give him any kind of food to stop the barking (he tends to eat more human food than dog food)… it always calms him down. And don't worry if you hate dogs or anything – he's totally harmless. I don't know his real name, so I just call him Jacob (not that original, I know) and he seems to respond, but I guess he'd respond to anything if it meant he got a nice pat on the head and some food. He'll probably leave eventually if you don't acknowledge him, but I can't promise, because I always let him in. Hope that helps!

Bella

**TWO WEEKS EARLIER**

Bella Swan closed her eyes and took a deep breath, trying to hold back the tears that were threatening to fall.

"Need a tissue?" Rosalie whispered, as she starting reaching into her purse.

Bella shook her head no. She promised herself that she wouldn't cry no matter how much she wanted to. She was supposed to be happy for the bride, and that she needed to push her own feelings aside. Unfortunately for her, that was getting harder by the minute. She couldn't manage to keep her emotions from spilling out. Not when this wedding meant that her life was about to change forever. Not when it was her own mother who was up at the altar, exchanging "I dos," with the man who would now take the fatherly role in her life.

The reverend pronounced the couple husband and wife, and Bella felt a hand move into hers and squeeze tightly. She looked over to Alice, tears starting roll down her cheeks. Rosalie squeezed her opposite hand, trying to comfort her, but it was no use. The couple began to run down the aisle, and Bella found herself unable to look.

Renee had wanted Bella to be up at the altar, but there was no way she could keep her emotions in check in front of a roomful of people. It was much easier, and safer, sitting in the front row, sandwiched between her best friends.

She didn't want to stand up there and ruin one of the most important days of her mother's life. Besides, there really was no reason for her to be upset. Her parents had divorced when she was a kid, and she saw her dad occasionally. Charlie Swan wasn't the most dependable father, which was probably why Renee had not pushed a visit between them over the years. It was hard growing up without a present father: no one to take you to father daughter dances; no one to check the monsters in your closet and reassure you they weren't there, etc. Renee had tried to do all that kind of stuff for Bella, but it really didn't have the same effect.

Grabbing the tissue from Rosalie's hand that she had willed herself not to use, Bella wiped her tears away as people began to rise from their seats and leave the church. The reception was immediately following the wedding, and she knew she had to drive over to the hall where it was being held, and check in on progress. Standing up from the pew, she took the hands of both of her best friends, and began the long walk to the church doors, where she knew her new life would finally begin.

The drive to the hall had been fairly quick despite the pouring rain that fell relentlessly onto her truck and the ground. With Alice and Rosalie sitting next to her, she drove her '53 Chevy pickup silently. The rain providing as white noise in the background, she listened as her friend discussed their summer plans.

Everything looked beautiful. The reception was going wonderfully without a disaster occurring. The décor was beautiful; everything Bella would want it to be for her mother, but she still found it hard to enjoy the party. She chose her seat at the edge of the room, insuring that she wouldn't distract anyone with her upset. Part of her felt awful for being distressed by the wedding, but at the same time, she didn't want to deal with all the change going on around her. She had never liked change; only accepted it.

"Take this," Rosalie insisted, appearing next to her with Alice in tow. She handed Bella a glass of champagne.

"I'm okay," Bella said, refusing the drink. "I promise."

"I don't believe you, but this shouldn't go to waste," Rosalie retorted, as she down the glass in one sip.

"I'm really proud of you," Alice said, taking a seat next to Bella. "I know that everything that happened today was hard. And as good as you are at hiding it from your mom; you don't have to hide it from us."

There was a lot of uncertainty in the world, but Bella knew that one thing would remain. Alice and Rosalie would always be her best friends. They knew exactly what to say when she was upset, and make her feel okay again. Wrapping her arm around Alice's shoulder, and taking Rose's hand, she squeezed lightly.

"I love you guys. Promise me you'll keep me busy this summer, because I don't know if I can handle all the newlywed love around the house," she told them honestly, thinking to how the next 3 months were probably going to be difficult.

"We'll do all sorts of fun activities," Alice said excitedly, as she turned to face her friends. "We'll go shopping, go to La Push beach… Ooh! Or we could go on a trip to Port Angeles?"

"Ali, Ali…" Rosalie chuckled at Alice's enthusiasm. "We've got time to plan. Besides, you'll be gone a bit for your trip to Europe."

The light in Alice's eyes dimmered as she remembered her trip that was coming up soon. She was excited, but leaving her friends for 3 weeks wasn't a high priority on her "To Do" list.

"Well, I'll be back in no time. Until then, you two can anxiously await my return," she teased, poking Bella in the ribs in an attempt to make her smile.

Before she could respond, the clinking of a wine glass interrupted the chatter of people who had just settled with their champagne at the tables. Bella glanced around the room at the smiling guests with their eyes on the happy couple, and the sinking feeling she had tried so hard to stop had begun again. She thought that it was a sign that things were only going to get worse, but then again, she wasn't one to trust her instincts.

"I want to thank everyone for joining us on our special day," Phil began. "As you all know, I have so many reasons to celebrate. Finding Renee was one of the best moments of my life, as I never thought I'd find someone so loving, beautiful, and kind. But I have another reason as well. Her name is Bella. I'm so happy to call her my daughter, as she is just as her mother with her beauty and warmth. And to kick-start our first day as a new family, I would like to announce Bella will be joining us on our honeymoon!"

"What?!" Bella found herself yelling, a little too loudly, as she stood up from her chair in confusion.

"Yup!" Renee said, joining it. "We're all going to Chicago, Illinois, for the summer. Surprise! We're doing a house swap!"

**--------**

Edward Cullen turned the key in the ignition of his Volvo, turning off the car. He was late for dinner, again, and he knew his parents wouldn't be too happy about this. Esme was particularly paranoid about him being out late, and considered 7:00 a suitable curfew for a 17 year old boy. He knew she was trying to ensure his safety, but his friend Jasper, and his older brother Emmett, thought it was hysterical. Putting his IPod headphones in his ears, he turned the volume on low as he locked his car. Even from their house outside town, the noise of the city was loud in his ears as he walked up the rock pathway to the front door. The cars overpowered the quiet notes of Debussy that filled his ears.

Summer was his favorite time of year in Chicago. The "windy" city's wind dies down and everything seems at peace. While most flock to the nearest sunny spot in California or Florida, him and his family felt they were just fine in Illinois. He slowly opened the door into the house to avoid making any loud noises. Looking at his watch, he noticed he was an hour late for dinner exactly. "Shit," he half groaned, half whispered, as he walked silently into the house.

"Edward? Is that you?" a female's voice called out.

Damn. Busted. "I'll be there in a sec," he called out, turning off his IPod. "I just want to wash up."

"Do it in here."

Sliding his MP3 player into his pocket, he walked into the kitchen to find Emmett, who was home from college for summer break, and his parents Carlisle and Esme preparing a salad to go along with the lasagna he saw waiting on the counter, fresh from the oven.

"Sorry I'm late," Edward said sheepishly, as he strode towards his mother, kissed her on the cheek, and headed to the sink.

"Don't worry about it. We waited," Esme told him, tossing the salad to get all the ingredients mixed in.

That was when Edward knew there was something going on. She normally gave him hell for being late; threatening to take away his piano privileges for weeks at a time. But today, she didn't. She let it go.

"What's going on?" he asked, suspicious as to what was being kept secret from him.

"We're having a family meeting," announced Emmett, snagging a cucumber from the cutting board in front of his mother.

"Everything's okay," Carlisle said, seeing the look of worry on Edward's face. "We just wanted to have everyone here so we could let you know our summer plans."

"We have a fantastic surprise. We've decided that we're all going to Forks for the summer," Esme announced, a wide smile on her face.

Silence fell over the group, the sounds of the city one again taking over.

"Where the hell is Forks?" Edward finally asked. "Why are we going there?"

"It's in Washington. I got a call from one of my old college buddies this morning who asked if we had any plans for the summer. He then told me about how he wanted to take his new wife and daughter to Chicago for a vacation, and I offered to do a house swap," Carlisle explained to his two sons, as Edward stared in disbelief.

"It's when you trade your house with someone else's," Emmett chimed in.

"Yeah, I get the concept," Edward snapped, punching his brother in the arm for being a wise ass. "Can't I just stay here with Jasper or someone?"

"We're sorry, honey," Esme said. "We don't want the family split up for that long, and we figured it would be a nice trip to somewhere new."

"But what about piano lessons? I already hung up flyers everywhere," Edward explained, looking for any kind of argument to convince his parents to let him stay home.

"I'm sure your students will understand. Besides, you can start them back up when we return in August."

Edward could have stood there and found hundreds of reasons for his parents to not make him go, but he realized this was an argument he wasn't going to win. Plans to hang out with his friends, road trip, play piano, and make some extra cash were dashed. Why did they have to go to Forks of all places? He had never heard of it, which probably meant nothing of great consequence was there. It was probably a town with nothing to offer, and the next two months would be a tragic waste of his time.

"What about my California trip with Jasper?" he asked. "Do I have to give that up too?" Jasper was spending the summer at his rich uncle's penthouse in LA and had invited Edward for a weekend in August.

"I don't see any reason why you couldn't still go," Esme said, looking over at Carlisle.

"It's alright with me," he said.

Edward looked at his family before retreating to the back door. Nothing more needed to be said. He didn't feel the need to thank them for not ruining his entire summer. Finding his keys in his pocket, he shut the door behind him. Getting in his car, he tried not to think about his wreck of a summer before pulling sharply out of the driveway.


End file.
